


Lacing Fingers in the Notches of Your Spine

by beakychick09



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-03-05 03:11:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13378893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beakychick09/pseuds/beakychick09
Summary: General Tina/Newt fluff. Some hints of non-con nastiness with Grindlewald. Mostly hurt/comfort because I've been in need of snuggles. Please be kind, it's my first fanfic in a REALLY long time.





	1. 1

Tina awoke slowly in a dark room, alone, with no recollection of arriving there. “Newt…?” She murmured drearily, turning painfully and wincing while she held her heavily bandaged ribs. Without hearing a response or any sign of company, she slowly started to brace herself to get out of bed. Closing her eyes in anticipation for the pain to come, she took a deep breath and propped herself up on her forearms and swung her legs off the side of the soft mattress. Grasping the feather blanket around her shoulders, she slowly shuffled toward the door and, hopefully, the kitchen for tea or some sort of breakfast.   
As she reached for the door handle, though, it turned and swiftly opened, knocking her off balance. Tina expected the impact of the cold, wooden floor but instead was instantly lifted by warm, strong arms and a soft exclamation of “Tina!” as a ceramic cup shattered to the floor and Newt held her quickly to his chest. Without thinking, she clutched to him and let him carry her back to bed, laying her softly back down with a whispered, “I’ll be right back” as he pushed the hair out of her face. Through dreary eyes, she watched as Newton Scamander picked up the broken teacup and left the suddenly warm bedroom, and she drifted back to sleep.  
Some hours later, she awoke again, but this time to the sound of a scratching quill, the scent of bergamot, and the familiar, earthy scent of something she couldn’t quite place. Turning away from the wall, less painfully this time, she opened her eyes to her favorite magizoologist pouring over a pile of books at the adjacent desk, scribbling furiously into a journal full of sketches. “Hi,” Tina smiled sleepily, and Newt looked up sharply. “You’re awake!” he said with slightly too much enthusiasm, and tripped over his chair as he rose, now blushing furiously. “I-I’m sorry-you’ve been asleep for nearly a full day and I…never mind. How are you feeling? I made some tea just now,” he walked to her bedside and helped her sit up, slowly, then handing her the cup. After taking a warm sip, she handed the cup back to him. “Newt…” she said, bringing her large brown eyes to his green ones, “what happened? I don’t remember anything…why do I feel so terrible? Why are you here?” and added quickly with the flash of hurt that crossed his face, “Not that I don’t want you to be here, of course…it’s just…unusual that I’d be…wherever I am…with you…sorry.”   
“No, Tina, it’s alright. It’s a long story, I suppose. What do you remember?” he said, somewhat hesitantly. “I remember Credence…and I remember releasing Frank, and Jacob walking into the rain…I remember Apparating away. And….that’s it. Then I was here. What happened, Newt?” It was at this moment that she started to notice that he wasn’t exactly in the best of shape, either. There was a large bruise on his collarbone, exposed by his slightly ripped shirt, and a small cut under his left eye. His forearms were covered in scratches and splotched with bright purple bruises, and his right wrist was wrapped tightly in a bandage. “Newton,” he met her gaze. “Are you alright? Tell me what happened. Please.” He levitated the sizeable, plush reading chair next to the bed and sat carefully, wordlessly. He opened his mouth to speak, sighed deeply, and looked at Tina hopelessly. “Tina…you-I..that is-well…” Tina reached out, placing a hand over his. He seemed to gain courage from this, took a bracing breath, and began.   
“Well, after we said goodbye to Jacob, we Apparated back to your flat, but Grindelwald was already waiting there.”   
Tina interrupted, incredulous. “What was –I thought they’d arrested --“   
“Please let me finish, it’s much easier all at once.”   
“I’m sorry.”  
“It’s quite alright. So, yes, Grindelwald and a pair of his followers were in your flat. When we Apparated, Queenie must have gone to another location, as she didn’t arrive with us. Before we had a moment to turn, a dual ensued, and even with my creatures and both of us, we weren’t much of a match for them. It wasn’t going well. I turned to check for you, and you were missing, and I was alone in the flat. I cast a tracking spell to find you, and it took several hours but once I located you, he’d been torturing you for some time.” At this, his eyes swam with moisture and she’d never seen him look so pained. “I’m sorry, Tina. I tried to find you. By the time I finally did, you were alone and unconscious and bleeding. I healed you as I could and brought you here. I stayed up with you…to make sure that, well…I’m sorry. I should tell you, though, you woke up once before this.”  
“I know, I got up for tea and I fell but you caught me – “   
“No, Tina, once before that. You cried out for me and –“ Tina’s heart skipped a beat. What had she said? What had she done? “…and?”  
“You asked me to sleep next to you, that you were frightened and couldn’t be alone. I assure you that nothing happened…of any nature…that is to say that…”  
“Newton. You’re fine. Thank you. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”  
Silence fell between them. After a whispered, “You didn’t,” the silence dragged on, until finally, “I’m really quite fond of you, Tina.” She glanced up to Newt apprehensively and completely terrified, waiting for someone to burst from the closet, admitting this was some sort of cruel joke, but nothing such occurred. The silence stretched between them once more, more heavy than the last, the air palpable with discomfort and expectation. Unable to find the words she needed, Tina struggled to stand. Newt jumped out of the chair to support her, which she protested, and he sat back in the overly padded chair. Tina hesitantly sat sideways across his lap, resting her head on his left shoulder, nuzzling the bridge of her nose against his neck. His arms wrapped effortlessly around her and there they stayed for what simultaneously felt like a moment and a millennium. “Newt, I’m rather fond of you, also.” At this admission, Newt pulled back for a moment, glancing quickly between her exhausted eyes and her slightly parted lips, and timidly leaned toward her, and as gently as he possibly could, pressed his lips onto her forehead. Tina shifted slightly to place her head under his chin, then winced and whimpered in pain. “Oh, Tina. I’m so sorry.” Newt lifted her as if she were something small and extremely breakable, and laid her back into bed, covering her with the white feather-filled blanket. “I’ll go make you breakfast. Please rest,” he brushed the back of her hand with his calloused one, linking two of their fingers for the briefest moment, and walked out of the small, warm bedroom.


	2. 2

“Newt?” Tina spoke into the dimming light of the apartment at dusk. “Newton, where are you?” She turned into the sitting room and saw him sleeping peacefully on a sofa, snoring softly; a large book sprawled across his chest. She pulled a blanket from a nearby basket and tucked it around him gingerly, then moved toward the kitchen to pull something together for dinner. Not feeling like doing much work, she searched for something simple in the cupboards, found a box of macaroni, and put a pot of water on the stove to boil. She scooped a serving into a bowl and moved back to the sitting room, taking a book from the shelf and sitting on the oversized armchair opposite the sofa where Newt was still sleeping. The silence in the apartment was comfortable now, a much easier atmosphere than that of the bedroom earlier in the day. The warm glow of the fire was relaxing and Tina was finally starting to feel like herself again. She moved back to the kitchen and began to wash the dishes from her small supper, when a loud CRACK from the hallway made her scream and drop the glass in her hand, breaking it in the sink and slicing the palm of her hand, bright blood blossoming across her pale skin. She turned, not sure what to expect, then a door down the hall slammed and a British couple began shouting drunkenly about the time of night and a hypothetical affair.   
Tina sank to the floor of the kitchen, her palm bleeding profusely and trembling as the pain in her hand brought back a flood of memories that she wished she’d never remembered, the memories of her time in Grindlewald’s captivity that Newt had tried to protect her from remembering. She now knew how much more there was to the story, and that she hadn’t been alone when he’d discovered her.  
‘Tell me, girl, where is Albus Dumbledore?” Grindelwald growled, with his wand to her throat.  
“I don’t know who that is…there isn’t a point in any of this, just let me go,” Tina said, still trying to maintain the illusion of strength. The ropes cut into her wrists and ankles as she struggled in the metal chair to which she was bound, her fingers searching blindly but desperately for a knot to untie, or more importantly, her wand.   
“You honestly think I wouldn’t disarm you? Tell me what you know before I have to actually hurt you,” he said, his voice more menacing than ever, moving his wand from her throat to her chest, deliberately parting her blouse in the process. She recoiled, disgusted, and struggled again in vain.   
“Stop…please,” she begged as tears pooled in her eyes. “I don’t know anything, why are you doing this?”  
He did not reply, but instead released her from her bounds and kicked the chair from underneath her. She stumbled, then squared her shoulders and narrowed her eyes, feeling more powerful now that she was no longer bound to a chair. She was overly aware that there were no doors in the room, only a wall of black glass, and there was no sign of her wand. Acting on impulse, she threw herself toward Grindlewald, striking his throat with her shoulder and taking him to the ground. His wand flew from his hand, landing a few metres to the right of their struggling mass. She scrambled toward it, but he was too fast. Clutching his wand, he fired a jet of burgundy light that struck her in the right side of her ribcage, sending her soaring into the wall of glass. She landed hard on the ground, sticky warmth spreading through her hair as the room started to spin and Grindlewald advanced on her, pinning her arms above her head. “You’re going to die here, you know. Tell me what you know and I’ll reward you before you do,” he smirked, running his icy fingers down her hips, hooking under the fabric of her trousers. Drifting toward unconsciousness in a growing pool of blood, she gasped for air and strained to move his heavy frame from her, and as blackness enveloped her, she heard a distraught voice hoarsely screech her name and the weight was lifted from her body.   
“Tina! Tina, darling, please.”   
The dimly lit kitchen came swimming back into view, Newt by her side, quickly bandaging her hand. With a small flick of his wand, the blood disappeared from the floor and the glass repaired itself, then he tucked his wand into the interior of his vest and placed a calloused hand against her cheek. “Tina, what happened?”  
“Newt, I…I just…I remember.” Lost for words, he searched her face for something, anything, to comfort her. Surprising herself, she pushed his hand away from her face and stood, holding her abdomen. Newt offered a hand for support, but Tina recoiled. “Newt, I really don’t want to be touched right now,” she snapped, and then added delicately, “I’m sorry. Please don’t leave. I just need a moment.” Tina moved back into the bedroom, disgusted by the darkness, disgusted by the bed, disgusted by her existence. She curled into the large reading chair, cast a silencing and locking charm on the bedroom door, and dissolved into tears.


End file.
